Jo's COOK BOOK #3 Shepherd's Pie Brit Style

Jo's COOK BOOK

How to make a Shepherd's Pie Brit style, with USA ingredients.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes
• Carrots, sliced or diced depending on your preference.
• Frozen Peas, defrosted
• One Small Onion, finely chopped
• Minced Meat (Ground Beef)
• One sachet of McCormick Beef Stew Mix (In the UK, I would use OXO stock cubes, Bisto Browning Power & Celery Powder)

Before you begin, put your cooker on to pre-heat to 380.

• Peel, wash and split in smaller portions for quicker boil - Potatoes.
• Put them on to boil.

In a skillet (frying pan).

• Brown your meat.
• Add finely chopped onion and sliced carrots.
• Make the Stew Mix as per packet directions.
• Add Mix to meat, onion and carrot mix.
• Season with salt and pepper to preference.
• Simmer for ten minutes, or until sauce has thickened.
• Add peas and cook for a further two minutes.
• Transfere mixture to a 9 by 13 baking dish. You should leave 1/3 space for your potatoes.

Once your potatoes have boiled.

• Drain and add a small amount of milk and two table spoons of butter (more if you prefer creamier spuds).
• Mash until smooth but not sloppy.
• Spread the mash over your meat mixture.

Bake at 380 for 40 minutes.

Option.

• Add grated cheese on the top for a crunchy top.
• Alternatively, check out this BBC recipe for lamb version if you can find fresh, minced lamb - http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/shepherdspie_2077

Jo's COOK BOOK #2 Ham And Spring Onion Quiche

This is my own recipe that I adapted from various British cookbooks. Tried and tested -- and we love it!

(NOTE: I am on a low sodium diet, and as cheese is high in sodium I do not add any extra into the pastry or egg filling. You may wish to add salt for seasoning. I recomend a pinch of salt for pastry. Add to taste for egg filling.)

TO MAKE THE PASTRY

You will need:

2 cups of flour, ¾ stick of chilled shortening or chilled ¼ butter 2/4 shortening, 1 cup of iced water, Plastic wrap

1. Sieve your flour into your metal mixing bowl
2. Cut shortening/butter with metal knife into small cubes
3. Mix cubed shortening into flour, using your fingers, to create a crumb like texture
4. When all shortening has been blended into flour, add water tea spoon by tea spoon, while kneading. Stop adding water when you get to the correct consistency. Typically, three to four table spoons of water seems about right for me.
5. You will know your pastry is ready—it will stick together to form a dough.
6. Place your dough into plastic wrap. Chill for a minimum of 3 hours to ensure easy rolling.

TIPS

I like to make my pastry nice and sticky before chilling in fridge, which requires a little more water.

Make pastry the night before, chilling it overnight in the fridge. Then it will be ready to go at dinner time, without too much fuss.

You can adapt this pasty recipe:

Savory Pie: use 3 cups of flour instead, and one stick of shortening.

Sweet Pie: use 2 ½ cups of flour, ½ cup of sugar, and one stick of shortening

TO MAKE THE QUICHE

You will need:

A pie dish, I prefer glass or non-stick coated, Cooking spray, Rice and Baking Paper (for pastry weight), Rolling pin, Flour for rolling, 3 Eggs, 1/3 cup of sour cream, 1 cup of finely grated cheese

2 cups of Pre-fried chopped ham and spring onions finely chopped to suit, Cayenne pepper

PREHEAT OVEN to 420

1. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour and roll out your pastry.
2. Spray pie dish then carefully line pie dish with rolled pastry. Trim to suit
3. Place baking sheet over pie, adding one cup of rice or a small plate to cover as much of the base as possible. This will apply weight to pastry, stopping it from rising and bubbling during the cooking process. Pre-baking pastry like this will ensure the egg doesn’t soak into the pastry, giving you a sloppy base. YUCK)
4. Put pie, with oven proof weight in center, in the oven for 10 minutes
5. While pastry base is cooking, mix in a bowl: eggs, cream and grated cheese.
6. Once the pastry base has baked for ten minutes, take out.
7. CHANGE OVEN TEMP TO: 380
8. Remove the weight (rice and baking sheet or plate) and discard
9. Spread your precooked ham and spring onion over the center of your half baked pastry
10. Then, pour your egg, cream and cheese mixture evenly over the top
11. Add a sprinkle of the cayenne pepper over the egg mixture
12. Place in oven and bake at 380 for 40 minutes, or until egg completely cooked throughout.

SERVING:

We like to serve it with butter potatoes and green beans J or a salad and fries

TIPS:

You can eat it hot or chilled and it keeps up to three days chilled, in the fridge.

You can change the ham and spring onion around to almost any combo you like. Spinach, tomatoes, chicken and bell peppers also work well in a quiche, as does regular, finely diced onion.

Do you bake quiche? Any tips or suggestions to share?